Reward of Up to $5,000 Offered for Help in Gull-Killing Case

PETA Ups the Ante in Search for Person Who Lured Birds to Dollar Tree Parking Lot and Ran Them Over

For Immediate Release:
January 6, 2020

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

On the morning of January 4, law enforcement responding to a call at the Laurel Plaza shopping center on Fort Meade Road discovered at least 10 dead gulls in the parking lot. Someone had reportedly purchased a bag of popcorn from Dollar Tree and emptied it in the lot to lure in the birds before running over them with his or her car and then fleeing the scene.

Authorities are investigating but have yet to make any arrests in connection with the crime, so PETA is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction for cruelty to animals of the person(s) responsible.

“It takes a cruel, dangerous person to coax gulls over with the intention of violently killing them,” says PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA is asking the public to help find whoever did this before this person harms or kills anyone else.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—offers tips for helping wildlife and reporting cruelty to animals on its website.

Anyone with information about the case should contact the investigating officer at 301-498-0092 or [email protected]. People can also send tips to [email protected] or leave them anonymously at 301-498-7645.

PETA opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.